Shoe and the manufacture thereof



Oct. 9, 1934. l, TARLW 1,975,988

SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed July 18, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct 9, 19345. l. TARLOW 1,975,988

SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed July 18, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Patented Oct. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFCE SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Isidor Tarlow, Brockton, Mass.

Application July 18, 1933, Serial No. 680,944

13 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and more particularly to an improved Goodyear welt shoe and the method of its manufacture.

Many attempts have been made to prevent the insole of a Goodyear welt shoe from cracking and becoming deformed after a period of Wear. 'Ihis manifests itself particularly in an upward curling of the feather of the insole aided by a sinking l0 of the central portions of the insole, where the greater weight is applied, into the underlying ller which usually is of a consistency that can be squeezed out of its desired form of a layer of substantially even thickness -as originally spread within the sewing rib of the insole. This cracking and curling of the insole is due to several causes, for example, perspiration from the foot reacts with the tanning acids to weaken the fibres of the leather and make the insole limp and easily forced out of its original substantially at condition; the present lasting processes are not capable of holding the feather of the insole down under the strains imposed upon it, especially if light weight insoles are used; the sewing rib frequently is too weak to hold the inseam down in its proper place thus permitting the feather to curl upward inside of the shoe.

The object of the present invention is to produce a shoe in which the disadvantages of prior constructions are overcome resulting in a perfect non-curl shoe or a shoe which throughout its life retains the original shape or planate lie of the insole feather thus obtaining a non-curling insole. Various features of the shoe combine to accomplish this object as will be understood by those skilled in the art from the following description, the invention in its true scope being pointed out in the appended claims.

The nature and scope of the invention will best be understood from a description of the preferred embodiment thereof and the modifications illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is which:

. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through the forepart of `the covered insole as it is prepared for assembling with upper on the last;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a modified form of the insole;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of one side of the shoe showing the relation of the insole feather to the last after lasting;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a step in lasting;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view after inseam- Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the forepart of the shoe after bottoming and last pulling;

Fig. 7 is a view, in plan, of the forepart of the shoe after inseaxning and bottom lling;

Fig. 8 is a view, in plan, of the toe portion of the insole shown in Fig. 1 as prepared for the pulling-over operation;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the application of a waterproofing liner to the insole feather;

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of one side of a welted and inseam trimmed shoe embodying the novel insole shown in Fig. 1 with the additional waterproofing liner; and c Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view through the forepart of a covered insole like that shown in Fig. 1 except that the cover has been stapled to the sewing rib or lip and the feather curled backwardly as a preliminary step before tacking the insole on the last.

In the preferred shoe construction the insole shown in Figs. 1 and 8 is used although the modi-l fled insole of Fig. 2 or that of Fig. 11 having its feather pre-curled .backwardly may be used if desired.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by Figs. 1 and 3 to 7 the insole 12 is the veconomy type, that is, a leather insole for Goodyear welt shoes reinforced by a canvas layer 13. The insole is fitted as usual byany channeling machine for preparing Goodyear insoles, the lip ,from the feather 14 and the flap from the channel 15 both being raised and secured together to form the sewing rib 16. The canvas reinforce 13 has its margin turned up and secured to 'the inner face of the sewing rib to stiifen and strengthen this rib for receiving lasting staples and later for holding the welt.

The sewing rib 16l is on the esh face of the insole and its grain face is buifed to remove the slippery and shelly outer grain thus to enable this face to hold a lining or cover 18 of soft skin, preferably a vegetable tanned calfskin. The

cover 18 is cemented to the grain or sock face of that if tucked snugly into the angle formed by the feather and sewing rib it would just cover this surface.

A modified insole, with respect only to the cover, is shown in Fig. 2. .Here the cover does not extend across the insole but is in the form of a tape 19 having a skived inner margin cemented to the grain or sock face of the insole and also secured to the feather by dry thread stitching 21. This cover tape has the same free margin 20 as in the preferred form of the insole.

It is not essential that an economy type insole be used. Any Goodyear type insole providing a sewing rib may be used but the strength 0f the economy insole sewing rib is especially advantageous as will be recognized by those skilled in the art.

Before assembling the insole with an upper on the last it is taken to a staple lasting or similar machine and the insole cover margin 20 is secured to the sewing rib 16 at three points 22 as shown in Fig. 8. 'I'his securement at the tip of the toe and substantially at each end of the tip line is to prevent the cover 18 from being seized by the pulling-over machine pincers at the time the vamp is pulled over and temporarily tacked.

The insole as thus prepared is tacked to a last 24 and the last is inserted within an upper 25 produced in any usual way. The counter is inserted at this time and the assembly is temporarily secured to the last as in the ordinary practice of making Goodyear welt shoes. The last may be of any design suitable for the style of shoe to be manufactured and may have either a rounded or a flat bottom. The upper, having been pulled over, is now ready for lasting in the novel manner taught by this invention.

A more or less diagrammatic showing is made in Fig. 4 illustrating the upper being stretched and shaped to the last by hand lasting pincers (dotted) in order better to visualize this step of the method. In commercial manufacture the shoe would be side lasted by a staple lasting machine and a bed laster used for the toe and heel after pulling the tacks driven by the pulling over machine and the temporary staples 22.

In side lasting the upper 25 and the insole cover margin 20 may be either separately or simultaneously gripped and drawn upward and inward. The upward pull on the insole cover 18 causes it to lift the insole feather 14 away from the last or curl it backward as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4. In other words there is a drag on the insole feather which reaches back through the connected cover and strains the margin of rthe insole in a reverse direction to that in which it tends to move when strained by the weight of the wearer of the shoe. 'Ihe tendency, while the shoe is being worn, is to curl the feather 14 upwardly, viewing Fig. 6, but this method of lasting purposely pre-curls the feather in the opposite direction. While the insole cover 18 orv the upper 25, or both, are thus held by the pincers they are secured, as by staples 26, Fig.'3, high up on the sewing rib 16, the stretched materials thus forming a bridge from the edge of the reversely curled insole to near the top of the sewing rib (see Fig. 3). During the welt attaching or inseaming operation this bridging material 27 is stretched snugly down on the feather 14 and the feather, while closely bound by the cover 18 and with its fibres still strained in a direction tending to prevent curling upward, is forced back onto the last bottom.

The result of sewing the inseam 28 is shown by Figi 5. A Goodyear welt 30 is fed in upon the bridging material 27 and by the combined action of the welt guide and tension mechanism of the inseam sewing machine this material is forced inward and the welt is seated in the angle between the feather and sewing rib. At the same time the curled up feather 14, enclosed and held in its strained condition by the completely stretched cover 18, is forced back upon the last, being bent down about its connection to the sewing rib which, due to the inward pull of the canvas 13, retains its upright position. As a result of lasting and welt attaching in the manner described a spreading of the upper during wear, or any loosening of the material binding the feather, will cause the feather always to tend to move in a direction toward the outsole rather than to curl up inside the shoe. The operation on the feather may be"'described as one which strains its fibres in such manner that it is noncurling or always tends to lie flat against the material beneath it in the finished shoe. This results in a feather that is always substantially locked down with no tendency to curl upward within the shoe thus preserving a smooth tread face, because of the hard, Atight margin of the insole, throughout the life of the shoe. The form and position of the insole in the completed shoe is shown in Fig. 6.

After the welt has been attached the shoe is inseam trimmed, this operation trimming oif all of the lasting staples 26 and the welt is beaten out to receive the outsole. Fig. 10 shows a shoe, in cross-section, at this stage of its manufacture. Before the outsole is applied the cavity at the forepart within the sewing rib is filled.

It is important that a filler be used-that cannot be squeezed out of place during wear, that is, a filler that, while yielding, is stable and which will constantly support the central portion of the insole in the relation to its fixed margins determined by the bottom of the last on which the shoe is built. To this end a filler 32 comprising sheet material, preferably a combination of rubber and cotton fibre such as cord tire fabric, is used. This filler is dinked or rounded to the shape of the cavity within the sewing rib that it is to fill. The filler is cemented to the fabric reinforce 13 of the insole and, being thus held from shifting, its edge face supports the sewing rib and serves to prevent an inward crushing thereof and sinking of the insole below the plane determined by the level of the insole feather. It has been found to be advantageous to perforate the filler 32 (see Figs. 6 and '7), both to lighten it and to permit breathing through it. An outsole 34 is then secured to the welt 30 as by an outseam 36 (Fig. 6).

' Thereafter the shoe is heeled and the succeeding finishing operations may be performed as usual.

In Figs. 9 and 10v a modified insole is shown that serves to provide a watertight inseam. After preparing the insole 12 and before applying its cover 18 a strip 40 of any suitable elastic waterproof substance, for example crepe rubber, is

laid on the featherA 14 in such position that the needle of the inseaming .machine must strike through it as the welt is attached. The rubber or other elastic material closes on the thread after the needle is withdrawn and calks each stitch. AFig. 10 illustrates a watertight inseam 28 of this nature in the kind of shoe hereinbefore described. It is within the scope of the invention to use this feature on an uncovered insole as illustrated by Fig. 9.

- wearer ofthe shoe.

Lavaca@ Some manufacturers may desire to build a shoe of the kind hereinbefore described but using a covered insole prepared on the shoe with a prestrained or reversely curled feather. Such an insole is indicated by Fig. 11. As before the insole is of the Goodyear type having an upstanding sewing rib and an economy insole is shown. The leather body 50 reinforced by the canvas or duck 51 is provided with a marginal cover 52 in the form of a strip stitched to the feather 5d as illustrated in Fig. 2, but a full-covered insole as illustrated in Fig. 1 may be used if desired. The free margin 53 of the cover 52 is drawn up by hand or by machine until the feather is curled backwardly to the desired degree toward the sewing rib 56 and it is then stapled, all around, to the top of said rib as shown in Fig. 11, forming the bridging material 58 between the feather and sewing rib. This insole, having its feather precurled, is tacked on the last and the upper is then lasted over the bridging material 58 and secured to the sewing rib finally obtaining the same effect as shown in Fig. 3. Such an insole having a pre-curled feather may be sold as an article of manufacture. It will be understood that if a full-covered insole is not used a sock lining may be applied to present a good appearance tothe sock face of the insole.

One diiculty that has been experienced in Goodyear welt shoes is that the rather light connection of the sewing rib to the bocLv of the insole, through the between substance, is easily torn through after the leather has been rotted by long wear of the shoe. The strain on the inseam is carried -directly .to the between substance if this substance is left upprotected. In the shoe of this invention the between substance is protected in a novel and highly eilicient manner. As stated, a covered insole has heretofore been suggested, but with the insole of this invention there is a cover fully stretched about the feather and up the sewing rib which holds the between substance so snugly it is practically impossible to lift it from the body of the insole.

It is within the scope of the invention to manufacture a full welted shoe by the method described. In such case the insole would be fully channeled and the covering would be extended over the heel to provide a free margin co-extensive with the sewing rib.

While it is not new to provide an insole with a cover, these covers have heretofore been laid on the tread face and lapped over the feather depending on the cement to hold it smooth. Consequently trouble has come from a crawlingv or wrinkling of the `cover especially toward the tip of the insole where it is rubbed by the toes of the No crawling or wrinkling of the insole cover can occur in the shoe of this invention because the cover is applied to the insole ina fully stretched condition. 'After lasting there is no possibility of a wrinkle forming in the cover. It will be understood that in lasting the materials at .the toe the wiper plates of the bed laster are specially manipulated as understood by the operator so that a reversely curled feather bound by a strained cover is attained at the toe as well as at the sides of thev points, is turned inward and secured to the sewshoe.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that in any way the shoemay be ybuilt and with any ofthe described insoles illustrated,

or the equivalent, the final result is a non-curling insole in the shoe, that is, an insole having a margin that continually resists any force which attempts to curl it upward within the finished shoe. The shoe of this invention has the distinct advantage over shoes manufactured'by the usual Goodyear welt method of an insole that has a hard, tight edge that can be lifted from the underlying upper only with extreme dimculty and also has its forepart cavity completely filled with a non-:owing filler that is yet sufllciently yielding to give an easy tread, although one which will not sink to form permanent cavities or gutters.

1n the following claims the term covering and its variations as descriptive of the insole, is inclusive of any material applied to the insole whether a full-covering or not which enables or facilitates a reverse curling of the feather by the methods herein described, unless so qualified as clearly to point to a special form of the insole.

'Ihe nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and having described the novel method of manufacturing shoes and insoles and the preferred mode of practicing it when employing its underlying principles, yet recognizing that modifications and changes may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, what is claimed as new, is:-

1. A welted shoe comprising upper materials, an insole having a feather and a sewing rib, a welt inseamed to said rib through said upper materials and an outsole outseamed to the welt,

said insole being covered and having the marginal portion of the covering lying beneath the upper materials and completely enclosing the feather of the insole, said covered feather having its fibres strained in a directiontending to prevent curling upward from the welt causing said feather continually to maintain a hard, tight and non-curling edge within the shoe.

2. A shoe as defined by claiml having a filler formed from perforated cord tire fabric in sheet form, shaped to ll the forepart cavity and to engage and support the sewing rib against inward crushing. -V y 3. In a welted shoe, a feathered and ribbed insole having 'the bres of its feather strained in a 1 direction to cause said feather to tend to lie flat and to overcome curling upward from the upper materials and welt beneath it.

4. The invention dened by claim 3 in which said strainedinsole feather is bounded by a covering, the margin of said covering lying against the outer face of the insole rib and being secured to said rib by the inseam through the welt and upper materials.

5. In a welted shoe, a feathered and ribbed 1 insole having a cover on the forepart of its sock face the marginal portion of which encloses said feather While strained in a direction to prevent curling upward from said sock face, said strained feather, in the shoe, lying substantially in the ing rib, namely, at the tip of the toe and substan- 1 tially at each end of the tip line.

'7. An insole having a sewing rib and a feather, and a covering for said insole extending above the feather onto the sock face of the insole and secured to said face, said coverig having an out- 1 standing free marginal portion which, at separated marginal points, is secured to the sewing rib under sufficient strain to have pre-curled the feather within it backwardly away from the sock face of the insole.

8. An insole having a cover as defined by claim '7 in which the strained marginal portion of the covering bridges the angle between the feather and sewing rib and is secured high up on said rib near its free edge.

9. The method of lasting shoes of the welted type which includes supplying an insole having a feather, a sewing rib, and a covering upon the sock face of said insole providing a free margin substantially co-extensive with said rib, assembling said insole with upper materials on a last, lasting by gripping the free margin of the covering and straining sufciently to curl the feather away from the last, also stretching the upper and securing the margins of said strained materials to the sewing rib to hold the feather in its reversely curled condition.

10. The method of lasting defined by claim 9 in which the strained materials are secured high up on the sewing rib forming a bridge between said rib and the reversely curled feather.

11. The method of lasting defined by claim 9 in which the free margin of the insole cover is secured at the tip of the toe and substantially at also stretching the upper and securing said strained materials to the sewing rib bridging the space between said rib and reversely curled feather, attaching a welt by an inseam through the base of the sewing rib said bridging materials being thereby forced inward, closing the strained insole cover upon thereversely curled feather and forcing said feather while thus enclosed back to the last about its connection to the sewing rib, and then bottoming the shoe.

13. The method of making welted shoes according to claim l2 in which, after Welt attaching, the shoe is inseam trimmed and, before bottoming, the sewing rib is braced by a filler of perforated cord tire fabric in sheet form tted against the rib in the forepart cavity within said rib.

ISIDOR TARLOW. 

